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Michael Peña
| birth_place = Chicago, Illinois, U.S. | residence = Los Angeles, California, U.S. | occupation = | education = Marist High School Hubbard High School | image_size = | birth_name = Michael Anthony Peña | years_active = 1994–present | spouse = | children = 1 }} Michael Anthony Peña ( ; ; born January 13, 1976) is an American actor and musician. He has starred in many films, such as Crash (2004), World Trade Center (2006), Shooter (2007), Observe and Report (2009), Tower Heist (2011), Battle: Los Angeles (2011), End of Watch (2012), Gangster Squad (2013), American Hustle (2013), Fury (2014), Frontera (2014), The Martian (2015), Collateral Beauty (2016), CHiPs (2017), My Little Pony: The Movie (2017), Ant-Man (2015) and its sequel Ant-Man and the Wasp (2018), and A Wrinkle in Time (2018). Peña also had the title role in Cesar Chavez (2014) and plays the co-lead role in the TV series Narcos: Mexico (2018). Early life Peña was born in Chicago, Illinois, the son of Nicolasa, a social worker, and Eleuterio Peña, a factory worker. Peña's parents were originally farmers, and emigrated from Mexico; his father was from Villa Purificación, Jalisco, and his mother was from Charcas, San Luis Potosí. He grew up in the North Lawndale area and attended Marist High School. Career Though Peña has been a regular in independent productions since 1994, his breakthrough performances came in two Best Picture Oscar-winning Paul Haggis-penned films, Million Dollar Baby (2004) and Crash (2004). The former was helmed by Clint Eastwood, and the latter was directed by Haggis. Though both films are critically acclaimed, Peña received attention for his particularly emotional performance in Crash. The following year, he appeared on the Golden Globe winning series, The Shield. In 2006, he starred in Oliver Stone's film based on the September 11, 2001 attacks, World Trade Center. He also had a small role in Alejandro González Iñárritu's film Babel. This gives him the rare distinction of having appeared in three consecutive Oscar nominated films. In 2006, Peña starred in the HBO film Walkout as Sal Castro, a Mexican-American high school teacher who inspires a group of East L.A. high school students to fight for Chicano rights. He also starred alongside Mark Wahlberg in Shooter (2007) as novice FBI agent Nick Memphis. In 2009, he played a mall security guard alongside Seth Rogen in Jody Hill's Observe and Report. In 2012, he co-starred with Jake Gyllenhaal as a Los Angeles police officer, in End of Watch. The same year, he began filming César Chávez, a biopic about the life of American labor leader César Chávez, who founded the United Farm Workers. Peña stars as Chávez.McNary, Dave. "Participant Marches With 'Chavez'." Variety. June 5, 2012. He appeared alongside Brad Pitt, Shia LaBeouf, Logan Lerman, and Jon Bernthal in the World War II-set action film Fury (2014), and portrayed Luis in Ant-Man (2015). Peña also voiced the character Ricky in the FX animated comedy Chozen. He also formed the Los Angeles rock band Nico Vega in 2005, which is named after his mother Nicolasa. He left the band in 2007 to concentrate on his acting career but co-wrote the track, "Beast" which reached #26 on the Billboard Hot Rock Songs Chart. Peña played animated roles, including Turbo where he voiced Tito and My Little Pony: The Movie where he voices Grubber. Peña starred in 12 Strong along Chris Hemsworth and the 2018 remake of A Wrinkle in Time, where he played the main antagonist, The IT, in his human form name, Red. In December 2017, it was reported that Peña had joined the cast of Narcos for its upcoming fourth season. It was later revealed that the fourth season would be a new series, Narcos: Mexico, with Peña starring as DEA agent Kiki Camarena. Personal life Michael Peña married Brie Shaffer in 2006. He has one son named Roman born in 2008. Peña is a Scientologist. Filmography Film Television Video game References External links * * Q&A Sessions: Michael Peña * Lions for Lambs interview Category:1976 births Category:Male actors from Chicago Category:American male actors of Mexican descent Category:American male film actors Category:American Scientologists Category:American male television actors Category:Hispanic and Latino American male actors Category:Living people Category:20th-century American male actors Category:21st-century American male actors Category:Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture Screen Actors Guild Award winners